Alyssa Healy has produced superb consecutive centuries to lead her team into the last four of the Women's Cricket World Cup, inspiring them to a commanding comprehensive trouncing over their opponents.
Healy remained not out on 113, arriving just four days after her equally impressive 142-run knock that saw off hosts India at the identical Visakhapatnam venue. This time, she combined in an unbroken 200-run first-wicket stand with her opening partner (84 not out) to race to their goal of 199 in just under 25 overs.
“I felt I was a little bit poor behind the stumps, and probably a bit as captain as well tonight, but we’ll take the two points and progress,” she said.
Interestingly, the utmost professionalism of the day's run-chase as the duo added 202 runs came after possibly Australia’s poorest performance in the field under Healy’s stewardship, with the skipper criticizing herself in particular for dropping a couple of the half-dozen catches that went down.
“I was a little bit disappointed with my glovework, and I needed to compensate with the bat, and luckily got the job done,” Healy continued.
From the time statistics was first recorded on fielding statistics in the year 2013, the six dropped opportunities represented Australia’s poorest fielding display at a World Cup tournament.
“Maybe it’s just that phase of the competition – we’ve been here a while, and it’s an issue we’ll reflect on,” the captain said.
This allowed Bangladesh to manage 9-198 after they had chosen to bat, their best-ever total in an ODI against the Aussies, with Sobhana Mostary scoring the first fifty ever for the Asian side against the reigning champions.
But Alana King mesmeric continuous 10-over bowling performance, in which she claimed two wickets for 18 runs with four maidens, was key to making sure Australia’s target wasn’t too challenging.
Healy Delighted with Victory that Seals Semi-Final Place
Healy was pleased to discover that the victory, which puts her undefeated side at the top of the group table on nine points after four wins and a wash-out, guarantees them a place in the semi-finals. “That’s really cool,” she said.
The 35-year-old captain raced to her hundred off just 73 balls, the quickest hundred of the tournament, and finished with 20 boundaries off the 77 balls she confronted as she accelerated from Litchfield in the latter stages in the innings after they had gone practically shot for shot towards their half-centuries.
Litchfield Shines with Maiden Tournament Fifty
The young batter Phoebe Litchfield hit 12 boundaries and one maximum, getting to her maiden tournament half-century off 46 balls shortly after her partner got there off 43. They went on to achieve the third-highest partnership by any Australian pair at a Women’s World Cup.
In the first innings, during the sluggish fielding display, the captain dropped the simplest of chances off Darcie Brown and also was unable to grasp a difficult skied one off another bowler. Annoyingly, she also take a clean catch off the same bowler but failed to review when the umpire turned down their shout.
The recalled Brown bowled the fastest balls at the tournament so far but was nonetheless the team's costliest bowler, conceding 0-52 off her nine overs.
Spin Attack Excel as Alana King Stars
In contrast, the spinners thrived, spearheaded by Alana King, whose performance could have been even more productive if Beth Mooney hadn’t missed one in the slips.
Other spin bowlers Wareham (2-22 off seven) and Ash Gardner (2-48 off nine overs) both contributed, while Sutherland consolidated her standing as the competition's leading wicket-taker with her 2-41, bringing her total to thirteen.
A batter's 44 runs and Mostary’s not out 66 off 80 deliveries took the team to their highest-ever total against the Aussies, but the target was rendered easy meat by a team who had successfully pursued 330 runs against India four days earlier.
“It's fantastic when you’ve got the ‘Q’ next to your name in a global tournament,” remarked star performer Alana King. “No doubt it won't end here. We anticipate going back to Indore to take on England and South Africa.”
